Lincoln Creed

The Long Reel Ahead: What’s In Store for Video Interviewing

April 15, 2020 By Lincoln Creed

During the early 2000’s, more and more companies started implementing teleconferencing into their work schedules, leading to the boom of video interviewing. Not only do these platforms help the interviewer, but they also provide the candidate with tools to enhance their interviewing skills. This helps the interviewee take ownership of the interview, which has been proven to allow them get to know each organization much more. According to Imo Udom, video conferencing is perhaps the best way to simplify the interviewing process.

Key Takeaways:

Video interviewing is becoming increasingly effective at helping organizations ask the right questions to get to know their candidates better.
The more information collected, the more accurate machine learning becomes, enabling smarter, faster interviews and empowering the hiring team’s analysis.
Video interviewing simplifies recruiting, offering features and functions that promote increased collaboration and understanding of candidates and hiring as a whole.

“We see some of this today, with machine learning working to uncover patterns and build predictive models based on successful interviews and performance data from the recruiting lifecycle.”

To Find the Perfect Candidate, Ask These 12 Questions in Every Interview

April 13, 2020 By Lincoln Creed

Recruiting the perfect employee for a specific role or project requires asking direct queries that will provide you with insight on whether or not each candidate is the right fit. If confidence is a characteristic that you’re looking or, ask them to explain something to you that they know a lot about within five minutes. If you’re more focused on a long-term vision, ask them how they personally define success. A willingness to learn can be seen when asking the interviewee what they would like to become better at.

Key Takeaways:

Hiring can be a tricky process, and the interview is the most crucial step.
You need to ask genuine, thoughtful questions to really get to know the job candidate and determine their fit.
Here are some interview questions that will help you find the best person for the job.

“Generic questions simply won’t cut it. If you want to elicit thoughtful, authentic responses from candidates, you need to put the same amount of effort into your queries. You have to dig deep to get a sense of the candidate’s true character.”

Machine learning can help us predict landslides caused by climate change – Tech Xplore

April 11, 2020 By Lincoln Creed

Although landslides are natural phenomena, their occurrences are influenced by human activities. In the US, landslides are becoming more frequent and severe. Christoph Mertz of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute is attempting to use deep learning algorithms to detect signs of impending landslides. His project requires a lot of data and cross-discipline collaboration. Experts are needed in computer science, geology, infrastructure, and other fields. Ultimately, Mertz hopes not just to predict and prevent landslides, but also to bring about infrastructure improvements that are related to the issue.

Key Takeaways:

Landslides are serious problems resulting in annual deaths of 25 to 50 people, and billions in damage.
Machine learning develops algorithms to analyze pictures of infrastructure to accurately predict if a landslide is probable in that area.
The leader of the initiative is Christopher Mertz who works at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute.

“Landslides are natural phenomena, but many of the conditions that can increase their likelihood are caused by human activity, such as directing surface runoff to an area or altering natural slopes for the construction of buildings and roads”

Infrastructure: The Hardest Easiest Problem (Video) – Bloomberg Government

April 9, 2020 By Lincoln Creed

Even our founding fathers have held the importance of infrastructure close to heart, never doubting its significance in our country. Unfortunately, just turning on the news can provide us with various headlines illustrating how the United States is facing destruction when it comes to our infrastructure’s foundation. Although President Trump has indicated that this issue is one of the easiest to tackle, experts are making it clear that this is an important part of legislation, and that it should not just be a running joke among those in office.

Key Takeaways:

Even quite recently, historically speaking, the American Society of Civil Engineers has given United States infrastructure a low grade.
Less than 3 years ago, President Trump addressed the issue of infrastructure in a speech in December of 2017.
Direct from his oval office, the current U.S. president noted that infrastructure was an easy task, in fact the “easiest” and that “we’ll have that done pretty quickly.”

“Since our nation’s founding, our leaders have addressed the importance of infrastructure.”

Connecting People: Why Coworking Spaces Appeal to Modern Workers

April 7, 2020 By Lincoln Creed

The trend of coworking spaces originally came to light in the media through several popular movies and television shows, and now our modern culture has adapted it in everyday life. According to psychological studies, there are three reasons why people are attracted to coworking spaces. The first of these reasons circles around the flexibility that they provide. The second most sought-after feature associated with corworking spaces is the heightened level of autonomy. The third desirable characteristic is feeling a connection to your community.

Key Takeaways:

The opportunity to share ideas and collaborate with others provides a strong value to shared working spaces.
People often prefer the community feeling of a coworking space to working alone.
Having a professional working location to convey legitimacy and experience is important for many individuals with fewer clients.

“According to the team’s research, the appeal of coworking spaces can be boiled down to three key factors: flexibility, autonomy, and connection to a meaningful community.”

A breaking wave – Pine Tree Watch

April 5, 2020 By Lincoln Creed

Climate change has been heavily impacting our nation, and those in rural areas like Maine are not exempt from its effects. Although Maine has been putting forth several rigorous efforts in an attempt to increase sustainability levels, the year of 2018 showed an all-time high in emissions. These negative effects of climate change can unfortunately lead to harmful situations such as late frosts that have detrimental impacts on the times plants bloom, causing them to cease.

Key Takeaways:

In the year of 2018, global emissions were said to reach the highest that they had ever been. Maine is increasing their eco-friendly efforts in response.
Experts claim that it is hard to get reliable data surrounding the extraction of natural resources since it is hard for these organizations to obtain funding.
Since some areas can expect shorter winters, they can also expect an impact on when plants bloom, creating potential losses.

“Tethered to the mainland by a thin thread of causeway and an 80-year-old bridge, this small town also faces rising seas that threaten infrastructure – including the town pier and a waterfront fire station”

What if analytics is more of a leadership problem than a technical problem?

April 3, 2020 By Lincoln Creed

History has shown that most companies are great at collecting consumer data within their industry, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they know what to do with it. Figuring out how to present the data within your company is just as important as collecting the data in the first place. You want to ensure that you’re presenting your collective data in an engaging and intriguing way to senior management within your company so that they take your findings seriously.

Key Takeaways:

Many businesses are good at collecting data, but they don’t know the best techniques to utilize the data.
Companies should focus more on broad changes when it comes to data analytics, as opposed to minor issues.
Businesses should instill a culture of curiosity with their employees to help lift their profits.

“Most companies have about 7-10 “real people” who can actually do anything or approve something. Those are usually men, in their 50s/60s, who have been fed/presented information in a very specific way for two-three decades.”

Younos: Water management in the era of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence – Roanoke Times

April 1, 2020 By Lincoln Creed

We have seen highly dramatic advancements in technology when it comes to water security and water management, and those advancements also have an effect on humans and ecosystems. Increased technology has improved the security of the nation’s water resources via the use of drones and wireless internet. Smart water meters and pipeline leak detection devices are also great for our home to prevent leaks and unhealthy water from being consumed. Finally, artificial intelligence is becoming very beneficial towards water security as it will allow for digital data to be created and shared which will protect our water supply and lead to more efficient management.

Key Takeaways:

20th century technologies have brought us the smart water meter and pipeline leak detection.
Computerization has its benefits, but has also made the water system vulnerable to hacking and terrorism.
Artificial intelligence has been applied to digital data sharing and to water sampling and analysis.

“Beyond smart technology, research and technology advances in the 21st century have led us to the era of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence with important applications in water security and management.”

Are You Too Ambitious? How to Keep Your Employee Goals High Yet Attainable

March 31, 2020 By Lincoln Creed

There are many things that we can do to keep our employees striving for high goals but also making them attainable. Use the SMART system which means that these goals will be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound. When giving an employee a goal, think about their past performance so that you understand what they are realistically capable. You can help set your employees up for success by instilling confidence in them and keeping them motivated towards reaching their goal.

Key Takeaways:

Many leaders find themselves struggling with balancing high goals but also attainable goals. Trial and error will be needed whenever trying to accomplish something.
When creating a goal, think about your past performances and be realistic about what you actually think you can accomplish.
As a leader, set your employees up for success. Giving them goals that they can easily attain can help boost their confidence.

“Attainability is literally at the core of a SMART goal. In fact, a goal can only be attainable if it has the other qualities demanded by the SMART system. That is, attainable goals are necessarily specific, measurable, realistic, and time-bound.”

The Outplacement Primer: Where, Why, and How Companies Are Using Outplacement

March 29, 2020 By Lincoln Creed

Outplacement is becoming more and more popular in the workforce nowadays as big companies and tech companies are starting to employ it. Outplacement services are simply when a company hires an outside service to help employees leaving their company with the transition to another career. These are usually implemented to help keep a companies reputation positive by former workers so that they don’t leave negative reviews on websites like Glassdoor. These services are usually apparent in bigger companies as they have the budget to afford them.

Key Takeaways:

Outplacement happens when companies hiring an outside provider to help employees transition within their career.
Companies offer these services to improve negative reviews on websites such as Glassdoor and to keep them feeling positive about the company after they leave.
Outplacement is most common in large companies and tech companies as they usually have a big enough budget for it.

“Outplacement can soften the blow of a job loss by helping the employee find a new opportunity — sometimes one that even offers higher pay and a better fit.”